1- lead in statement
Is Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) a valid threat to citizens privacy? Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) technology is a technology where a small device a RFID uses radio frequency to identify an object. "RFID chips" are usually composed of small circuit and an antenna that collects the radio waves, which in turn power the circuit. RFID is used to track inventory, to control access to sensitive areas and identify personnel in many commercial and government agencies. RFID “chips” have been successfully implanted in animals and humans. The U.S. government has started embedding RFID into the U.S. passports issued to its citizens and is considering embedding “RFID chips” into convicted criminals.
2- Why this topic is "a problem or issue, that is, a conflict or something unsettled, perplexing, vexing, distressful, and in the need of investigation"
1. RFID is a threat to citizen’s privacy because it broadcasts a unique identifier that can be used to identify the carrier of the RFID this unique identifier can be used to compile additional information.
2. RFID chips in identification documents broadcast the owner’s personal information for anyone willing to invest a couple hundred dollars to retrieve it.
3. The reliance on RFID technology is a crutch that when relied on completely will cause tremendous lose when it fails.
4. The information on an RFID chip can be duplicated with ease without being in close proximity to the original chip.
3- Justifications for further inquisition (if you have the answers to (#2), answer “so what?”).
By carrying a device that broadcasts a unique identifier at all time the carrier of the RFID chip is supplying anyone who wishes to build a database of the carrier’s movements or activities with the primary key to the database.
Placing an RFID chip in personal identification documents such as driver’s licenses or passports to store the identifying characteristics of the holder; places this personal information at risk of being collected and used by people with malicious intent.
If our government decides to use RFID in passports or to identify government employees performing sensitive duties because, this new technology is harder to forge, places a high reliance on the infallibility of RFID and less on scrutinizing the passport and the person presenting the passport.
One scenario is the possibility of a terrorist cloning the RFID in another persons passport to gain access to a plane or enter the U.S. Another scenario is terrorists using RFID to track the movements of the RFID carrier to facilitate the officials kidnapping. Worst case scenario is the ability for terrorists to use the RFID enabled document to identify a specific group individuals to remotely activate devices like improvised munitions-bombs.